


A (Not So) Secret Admirer

by PeachGO3



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Birthday Party, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Matchmaking, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27701375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachGO3/pseuds/PeachGO3
Summary: Claire quickly hits it off with the new kid, Jack, and they soon discover an exciting similarity: they both have lonely dads.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jack Kline & Claire Novak
Comments: 4
Kudos: 125





	A (Not So) Secret Admirer

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what the US school system looks like, so sorry if things feel out of place. This is just some short and sweet fluff for my soul bc I missed my girl Claire in the finale, among MANY other things :’) Enjoy the found family ♡

When Miss Bradbury and Miss Leahy introduce Jack, Claire does not pay him particular attention. Kaia, Patience and her have been busy playing monster hunters when their teachers have called them for the introduction round.

He’s blond and raises his hand in a weird way to say hello. “Jack is new here,” Miss Leahy explains with her voice and her hands. “Be nice to him, all right?”

Everyone nods and then has to say their names and how old they are. Claire shrugs and wishes the round would be over soon. Good thing she’ll go to the real school in a few months.

It isn’t until later, during play hour, that she catches Belphegor and Ruby bully Jack. “I’ll go get Miss Bradbury,” Kaia announces loudly and runs off, but Ruby still tears at Jack’s hair.

Claire steps in before Miss Bradbury is there. She is angry at Claire for hitting stupid Ruby. In the sickroom, Claire sticks close to Jack. “Don’t worry about that idiot,” she tells him when Ruby sticks out her tongue to him. “You can play with us instead.”

“What do you play?” he asks.

Claire shrugs. “Whatever we like. When we know you better, you can choose a game yourself,” she adds in a generous tone.

“Thank you,” Jack says. He really isn’t half bad. Claire thought it was unfair that he was bullied on his first day here. He plays everything that Claire and the others want to play with a big grin.

Claire observes him closely. She also watches him go outside when his dad picks him up. His hair is all dark, not at all like Jack’s.

When Claire’s daddy takes her home later, she tells him about the new kid.

“So, he’s nice?”

Claire squints. “I can’t really tell yet. But he was fun to play with,” she says.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. We played the whole time. Monster hunter, and iceman. He agreed to be the fish right away.”

“Urgh,” her daddy says with a face, “nobody likes to be _the fish_.”

“Right? But he had no problem with it!” Claire exclaims from the passenger seat. “He said he enjoyed it.” She squints her eyes. “He’s weird. But fun, you know?”

“Then you wanna invite him to your birthday? If Kaia and the others hit it off with him, too?”

Claire thinks about that. “Not sure. I gotta get to know him better first,” she says slowly. Her daddy swallows and looks at the road again. “All right, Corleone,” he says in a serious voice. “Just don’t hit other kids anymore, you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

* * *

Jack dreads the partner search for the children’s ‘crocodile’. He does not know who to ask, because everybody is already holding another child’s hand, but then Claire’s blond head pops out of the crowd next to him. She wears her beautiful black jacket again. Jack finds it fitting for someone who’s almost six. She’s one of the kids who will go to primary school soon.

“You have a partner already?” she asks.

Jack shakes his head and laughs when she takes his hand to take their place in the ‘crocodile’ (it was just a row of two children holding hands – Jack did not know why it was called a crocodile – maybe because the dangerous children were up front – it was really more like a snake).

He enjoys the trip to the environmental center in the forest. The friendly guide there even shows them a beehive. Jack decides to draw one at the creative table at the end.

“Is that a bee?” Claire asks, as if she’s scared.

“Yes, for Dad. He really likes bees,” Jack explains. “I tell him all the time that they’re not that rare. Like a tiger, or something? But he likes them anyway.”

“I saw a tiger at a zoo once,” Claire tells him proudly. “With my daddy.”

Jack says nothing, but he can tell Claire watches him work. “I can’t draw at aaaall,” she says at one point.

“I’m not that good, too. But I hope Dad likes it anyway.”

On the way back to the kindergarten, Jack and Claire are partners again, and they talk some more about their parents. “My daddy likes to go on trips with me,” Claire says.

Jack wonders about her mom and asks her about her.

Claire shakes her head. “She’s dead. It’s only Daddy and me.”

Jack’s eyes widen. “My mom is dead, too. Me and my dad are alone. We don’t even have a pet.”

“We have a dog.”

“That’s nice.”

Claire tells Jack some more about her dog, Miracle, and what kinds of tricks he can do, and how fluffy he is. Jack likes listening to her, because Claire is always very nice. He would have never thought that someone as cool as her would want to be his friend.

If only his dad would find a friend so quickly… Just, well, not only a _friend_.

When they arrive at the kindergarten, he is already there to pick Jack up. Jack waves goodbye to Claire, only to find that they walk in the same direction, because apparently, the tall man next to Jack’s dad is _Claire’s dad_.

They talk and smile a lot when Jack and Claire arrive, and then they talk some more with Jack and Claire on their arms.

Just when Claire yawns because of all the adult talk, Jack’s dad chuckles at something her dad said, and they touch hands. Claire’s dad is very nice.

And then – Jack gasps as he connects all the dots in his head.

_Claire’s dad is very nice._

* * *

The matchmaking mission should be a piece of cake, Claire thinks. Her daddy is always looking for a partner anyway. Easy. “This is going to be very cool,” she promises Jack. Kaia and Patience have to play without them today.

“I already thought of some stuff to do,” she tells Jack, who nods with a serious face. He’s the perfect guy to hatch a plan with her like that.

“I drew a picture of a tiger,” Jack says and carefully hands her the paper. “Here, with lots of hearts. Then he’ll know it’s from _a secret admirer_.”

“What?”

“Just tell him that it’s from my dad!” Jack explains in a half-whisper.

“Gotcha,” Claire says. She places the paper at the frontdoor of her house, where her daddy can easily find it. She wanted to put it on his bed at first, but Jack reminded her that the secret admirer would probably send it with the mail, because otherwise he would have to break into the house, and that would probably be ‘a bit much’.

The second step is picking flowers, because flowers were always very romantic. “And then I said – oh, _look!_ They must be from a secret admirer!” Jack tells Claire.

“Very good,” she agrees. “Then there’s no doubt. Otherwise the mailman could have left them.”

“The mailman?”

“Who knows? Anyway, good job.”

They high-five each other. That only left the plan’s third step – an invitation to eat out. When Claire’s daddy would come to pick her up today, Jack would invite him to come eat at his place, so that their dads could eat spaghetti with candlelight and meatballs, like in Lady and the Tramp.

“Yes, exactly like Lady and the Tramp!”

“It’s gonna be perfect!”

There is only one problem. Claire feels her heart sink when she realizes it isn’t her daddy picking her up after school today – it is Uncle Sam.

She exchanges a shocked look with Jack, who still waits for his dad. “I’m sorry,” Claire says when he goes. She still waits for Uncle Sam to finish his conversation with Miss Leahy. He can talk with his hands, too, and he’s in a super good mood today. But Claire can’t help but think of her daddy.

And Jack and _his daddy_. The plan was ruined. Would they be okay?

* * *

Jack is so sad that he doesn’t even want to talk. It’s only late in the evening, on his bed, when his dad asks him what’s wrong. He doesn’t know anything about the plan, and Jack does not want to tell him about it now.

Instead, he holds onto Marvelous Marvin tight. He just wanted his dad to be happy. “Will you ever have a new friend?” he asks quietly. “Not a _friend_. You know what I mean.”

His dad shifts and waits a bit before he answers him. “Do you want one?”

“I want _you_ to have one,” Jack says. “You’re always alone when I’m in school. And it’s not good to be alone.”

“I have my work, Jack. I’m happy, really,” his dad says with a smile. But that is not his happy smile, Jack knows that. “You were happier when you seen Claire’s dad,” he says with a sniff.

His dad shifts again, looking to the door. “How do you know?”

“You turned on the music in the car, after you meeted him at school. And then you _sang_ to the music. But he is really nice, so I’ll forgive you. And Claire said he’s looking for someone new, too.”

That makes his dad smile, and then he bends down to hug Jack and cuddle with him. “You’re right, he’s very nice. How about I talk to him when I drop you off tomorrow? At Claire’s birthday, would that be sufficient?” he asks.

Oh! The birthday party! Jack had totally forgotten about that – “Yes, great! Did you get the present?”

“The cat is safely packed inside the birthday bag.”

“Good. We mustn’t forget it.”

“No. Now,” his dad says slowly, “I think _someone_ is late for bed.”

Jack wants to say that he’s not late on purpose, and that he likes talking to his dad, but all that comes out of his mouth is, “No!”

His dad laughs and tucks him in. “Yes,” he says. “Look, Marvin is tired already, too.” He yawns as though it’s Marvin’s voice. “Tomorrow will be a great day, so get your sleep.”

“You too.”

“Yes,” his dad says and laughs, although it’s quieter than before. Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow could be Plan B for his happiness.

He kisses Jack’s hair before leaving. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night, dad.”

* * *

Jack is the first guest to arrive at Claire’s birthday. He gifts her a very cute cat, which Claire thanks him for, but other than that he seems sad. Despite the party hat. He tells Claire that, originally, his daddy wanted to talk to hers today, possibly about eating spaghetti, but there was a sudden emergency at work so that he had to drive away very, very quickly.

The news disappoints Claire. Before she can talk to Jack anymore, Kaia and her mom arrive, and after them, the others follow soon. Everybody gets a party hat, and after some time, the romance plan is completely forgotten, because –

Daddy has a piñata. And he lets Claire use her baseball bat to hit it.

Afterwards, everyone played soccer. Jack was not that good at it yet, but his mood lightens up when Claire’s daddy brings the nougat muffins and marshmallows. There are also vegetables, but no one except Kevin eats those.

In the evening, everybody gets picked up by their parents, and Claire says goodbye to Kevin first, then Patience, then Alex and Kaia. Jack stays the longest and caresses Miracle a lot. He envies Claire for the dog.

When they kick the soccer ball in the empty garden, Claire talks to Jack about their plan again. In a quiet voice, of course. Her daddy was still inside, behind the glass door. Too close.

“I still think it was a good plan,” she says.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Jack sighs. “Maybe I should throw a birthday party for my dad instead.”

“When is his birthday?”

“I don’t know…”

“Let’s not give up, okay?” Claire says a bit too loud, but when she turns around, her dad is still inside. She steps closer to Jack to say, “My dad always talks about meeting someone new. Always! And he likes other men, so that is no problem. Like, yeah, he told me it’s not something I should worry about, but we gotta keep trying! Or do you wanna give up just like that? We’re in this together.”

Jack looks up at her with a sad face. “I guess. Thank you, Claire,” he says. “You’re really nice.”

“Only to nice people.”

“Hm. Thanks.”

They haven’t realized how dark it got in the meantime. Just when Claire wants to offer Jack to stay overnight (because what if the _emergency_ at his daddy’s place would take until tomorrow? Jack can’t sleep outside), her daddy opens the terrace door and calls to them.

“Do you guys wanna come in? It’s getting cold outside.”

Claire beams in Jack’s direction when they notice who is standing next to Daddy – it’s Jack’s dad! He holds a coffee mug and stands right next to Claire’s dad, patting Miracle’s head. Surely they talked about their _secret admirers_.

Jack and Claire sprint inside. It really is warmer here, and they spend some time with their dads at the table and talk about playing soccer, and Jack’s dad shares some interesting stuff he knows about bees. He also says that he finds Claire and her daddy ‘very lovely’, and Claire’s daddy says that he and Jack look completely alike, which Claire disputes loudly. Jack has blond hair after all.

But, no matter how much they talk, Claire and Jack never tell them about their secret plan. Claire knows her daddy, and he looks very happy right now, so why tell him? He makes lots of funny faces when he talks to Jack’s daddy. Claire cuddles closer to him on his lap.

“Oh? Someone getting tired?”

Claire protest by shaking her head. Jack and his daddy drive home soon anyway, and when Daddy tucks her in, he asks if today was good. Claire says, meaning every word, “It was the best day ever. Yet.”

* * *

Beyond awkward, Dean greets the third parent passing him by. He fumbles with his keys, waiting for Cas. He’s late today.

After what feels like an eternity, that ugly pimpmobile of a car pulls into the school’s parking lot, and Dean straightens up, adjusting his shirt and trying to look inconspicuous. “Hey, um. H-hi,” he stutters.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greets in that dreamlike voice of his, hands in his trenchcoat.

There’s an awkward pause as they stand in front of the school.

After a not so deep breath, Dean pulls himself together and says, “Listen, um – y’know it’s Claire’s last day in kindergarten and, um…”

“Yes,” Cas says. “Jack is crestfallen about it.”

Dean inhales sharply at that. “Sorry to hear that, man. I just wanted to say, um – let’s not drop that thing like a hot potato just ‘cause of a change of school. If the kids still wanna hang out together…”

“I believe they do.”

Dean nods and wonders if he should put more faith in his courage or his stupidity. Probably wouldn’t make a difference. “Hey, listen,” he begins anew, “do you wanna – you know, have dinner sometime soon?” He finally meets Cas’ blue eyes, squinting at him. “Not just birthday leftovers, those weren’t that fabuloso,” he specifies with a half-joking callback to Claire’s sixth birthday.

There is another long pause, but at least Cas is giving him a little smile now. “The cucumber train was tasty though,” he says. “And the burgers you make are always delicious.”

Dean sweats. “Yeah – thanks – I mean – something other than that, perhaps?” He inhales deeply. “A little more, y’know – fancier? Downtown, just the two of us?”

And, wow, Cas looks all soft when he replies, “Yes. I’d love that.”

“Yeah? G-great. I didn’t wanna ask via text, I just…”

“It’s fine. I appreciate that. I wanted to ask you in person, too.”

“Yeah?” Dean falters. “W-what did you want to ask me?”

“If you’re free next week,” Cas says and breaks into a laugh directed at the ground, feet shifting as he chuckles, taking away every hidden doubt in Dean’s brain. This feels like cloud nine, good God. He should’ve asked much sooner.

“Yes, I am!” Dean grins back, clenching his fist in triumph ‘cause, wow – he won the fucking jackpot with this man. “Then, y’know, let’s figure out the details, and I’ll let Sam know so he can come over to babysit, so, y’know, you bring Jack and…”

Cas smiles at him as though he tries to make Dean melt into a puddle, apparently. Makes him blush like a teenager. “Um… should we go inside then, pick those buggers up?” he asks and points a thumb to the door.

“Yeah, we should not keep them waiting,” Cas says and then opens his mouth as if to add something. Dean waits and holds his gaze.

“Dean, um… You and Claire really grew dear to Jack’s heart. I told you this before, but… I’m just so very grateful he found someone who truly understands him. It’s still not that easy for him to find friends.”

“Man, you know the drill. He can come to our place whenever he wants,” Dean offers. “No problem, really. The two make a great duo. And he’s a great influence. Claire loves hanging out with him.”

Cas smiles, all soft. “I’m very glad to hear that.” There is another pause, filled only with soft looks from sky-blue eyes.

“Um – we should go,” Dean says. He rolls back his shoulders and lets Cas go first, just so that he can watch him smile over his shoulder at him – that crooked, raw smirk, so intense and yet so soft that it makes Dean’s heart flutter. Even eyerolls at Dean’s stupid jokes looked soft on that face. And that _stubble_ would feel soft on Dean’s cheek, too, he was sure.

Cas is such a weird combination of wish fulfillment. He’s good with kids and animals. He is overly tidy; everything in his house has a distinct if sometimes questionable place – and yet the guy can’t be bothered to wear his tie straight.

“I guess I’m just the type of person to stay alone,” Dean remembers Cas saying back when they were still new – Screw that, ‘cause Dean will sure as hell not drop this.

Cas won’t either, apparently, because he texts him a heart at the end of every message when they try to figure out a place to eat: _I’m looking forward to Thursday. Goodnight, Dean_ 💘

It makes Dean’s mind run wild. He’ll have to bring his A-game, ‘cause urgh – Cas would be the kind of guy to bring flowers, wouldn’t he? Something like – a single rose or so? And wear a white shirt, and let Dean order the drinks, and make out with him in the backseat of the Impala?

“What’s wrong? What are you reading?” Claire asks when Dean buries his blushing head in the pillow. With a boiling face, he types, _Same. Goodnight, Cas,_ like he has already done so often. This time he adds a heart though. ❤️ So that Cas knows what’s up.

“ _Who_ are you texting?”

“As if _you_ didn’t know,” Dean laughs and turns Claire’s body tackle into a cuddle.


End file.
